Those attending the event entitled “Farasa…discovering a special world in Cappadocia” will have the opportunity to be introduced to the Pharasian tradition, which will take place on Saturday, April 20 at 8:30 pm at the Pan-Asian Association.
THE Andreas Konstantinidis cooperated with the Cappadocia Department of the Pan-Asian Association which puts on a show regarding the Farasas of Cappadocia and which includes dances and songs, stories and images. A performance that will go beyond the data and stereotypes up to now and will bring dance to life, giving it a new essence.
“With this show essentially I present my own origin, through my own eyes, as I “lived” it through the narratives, memories, images created over the years growing up with refugees from Farasa in Cappadocia” characteristically notes Andreas Konstantinidis speaking in pelop.gr.
And when we ask him what was the need that led him through this show, he notes: “I want to try to make the voice of the refugees heard because for me the word “refugee” is truly a sacred word. The refugee speaks many languages, believes in many gods, and just hearing such a word makes you shudder. I grew up with this ending. My grandparents are refugees from Cappadocia and I might see that these people always had a pain, a silent cry inside them. This is what I want to show, that refugees have a voice and that the refugee actually transmits all this uniqueness to the next generations”.
A third generation refugee himself, he grew up in a refugee village, which still maintains its uniqueness and diversity. He grew up listening to another dialect, the Pharasian dialect, the best preserved ancient Greek dialect to this day. “I think that the third generation of refugees is looking to find their roots” he characteristically notes when we ask him what makes him keep in such close contact with his refugee status and continues: “The second generation, the children of refugees, essentially they had missed that. It was a generation that had to find its footing in a new world, they were children of persecuted people, different, with other experiences. Greece is a country that did not immediately embrace them. They had a lot of trouble in their lives. At school they beat the children to learn to speak “correct” Greek. There was a fear in the second generation and it was rejecting this different culture. And a younger generation is coming, mine, which is searching and doesn’t stop searching”.
THE REFUGEE AS RETSINIA AND THE PRESENT TIME
The third generation of refugees, like Andreas Konstantinidis, is trying to find its roots, which the previous one did not. The question that comes to our mind is also natural: Do you think that the second generation carried the refugee as a “retsinia”? He notes: “Exactly this. She wanted to put all of this away from her and join society. Don’t look different. Where for me diversity is uniqueness and essentially something wonderful”.
And things may have been difficult for refugees then, but how much have they changed today? “I think things haven’t changed much” he answers and continues: “Even today, people are afraid of refugees, the refugee causes them terror. If we read headlines from the 1920s, when the refugees were coming from Asia Minor, or if we read headlines today, we see the same words with almost the same meaning.”
SECOND HOMELANDS – DO THEY EXIST?
A cliché expression is “the second country“. But to what extent is this true? “I think their worst curse is that memory never fades. As are the roots. You cannot uproot a generation of people from a place. People and place become one” emphasizes Andreas Konstantinidis and continues: “I believe that refugees, people, cannot flourish once more in another place. They have left their lives behind, trapped, imprisoned in a frame of images that are constantly in front of them“.
One of the people who played and plays a big role in the life of Andreas Konstantinidis is his great-grandmother, who through her stories got to know the Farasas. A man who admires and loves. “I think it’s another batch of people. It has a nobility, a different philosophy on life. You don’t see that today” he tells us characteristically.
THE RETURN TO THE HOMELAND
One of the most important moments in the life of Andreas Konstantinidis was the return to Cappadocia, as he says through the narratives he felt as if he already knew it even if he had never been. “I felt awe from the moment I crossed the border. It was something shocking” he tells us and continues: “I felt like I was going back. That I knew it and it was something familiar. The first time I went was in 2015. We went as a family, 36 people. Of course I do I might be going to Cappadocia for the first time, however, I had acquaintances through social media, I was looking for people, I was trying to get to know them. So when I went there I already had acquaintances. It was shocking. Imagine a bus arriving in our village and everyone crying. They welcomed us in the best way”.
As soon as he set foot there, Andreas Konstantinidis felt a shiver, a “incredible feeling which became more and more overwhelming as I stayed there and the trip progressed” as it says. There they were welcomed by the mayor, himself of refugee origin from Kozani. Contacts were maintained, he went there twice more and would have gone a fourth time if covid had not arisen. A delegation from Cappadocia also visited Kozani twice.
And no matter how many times he went back to Cappadocia, the awe was the same if not greater. In fact, one of his thoughts is to live permanently in Turkey.
THE MORALS AND CUSTOMS OF THE FARASI
It was Andreas Konstantinidis’ involvement with the folklore of the Faras that brought him the acquaintance of the Pan-Asian Association, a friendship that has lasted for 10 years. In fact, in the past Andreas Konstantinidis has come once more to Patras and to Pammikrasiatiko, organizing seminars while another performance has taken place.
All this brings us to today and the show “Farasa…discovering a special world in Cappadocia”, a journey to this particular region that develops over the course of a year, starting with Christmas customs and reaching the wedding.
“I want to try to bring out the uniqueness of Farasa, because they really are unique” he tells us and continues: “Even the rest of Cappadocia is different from Farasa. They have married the old religion of the ancient Greeks with the Christian faith and this can be seen through the dances, which we do not meet anywhere else. These Farason dances are ritualistic. And we will see it step by step, we will start with a dance and at the same time a narration, explaining the dance and what is going on”.
On stage we will see the Dance Department of the Association, while at the same time a video created by Andreas Konstantinidis with the voices of refugees that emerged following years of recording and research will be shown. As far as the texts are concerned, they are supervised by Andreas Konstantinidis together with the Association’s dance teacher Mary Nikolaou.
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